Erectable beverage containers for storing and transporting bulk amounts of beverages, and particularly hot beverages such as coffee, hot chocolate, or hot water for tea, are well known. Such containers are typically made out of a single sheet of creased cardboard and include an insulated flexible bladder with a spout for receiving and holding a liquid. The containers generally have a front wall from which the spout extends, a pair of opposite side walls, a rear wall opposite from the front wall, a top including a handle, and a bottom. Examples of such containers can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,077,309 and 8,627,999. Details regarding the manufacturing and assembly of such containers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,066,869, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Such containers are designed to be manufactured in a partially assembled state wherein the container is shipped from the factory in a collapsed state, to be erected by a user immediately before filling the container with a liquid.
Known erectable beverage containers have a front wall that includes an opening through which the spout of the flexible bladder protrudes and in which the spout is captured. This front wall extends generally perpendicularly with respect to the flat bottom surface, such that when the beverage container is rested on a flat surface, the front wall extends vertically upward at a 90 degree angle from the surface. The spout defines an opening and a passage into the bladder having a longitudinal axis that extends perpendicularly with respect to the outer surface of the front wall. With these types of containers, the spout extends horizontally from the vertical front wall. Such containers are designed to be filled in one position and transported or stored in another position. Accordingly, it is virtually impossible to fill the beverage container with a liquid when the container is resting on its bottom surface without a specially designed funnel or other equipment. Thus, the beverage container is filled with the container resting on a rear wall opposite from the front wall, or is otherwise held such that the spout extends generally upwardly to receive a fluid poured into the spout from above. After the desired amount of fluid is poured into the bladder within the container, a cap is attached or screwed onto the spout, and the container may then be rotated and rested on its bottom surface in a transport orientation with the handle extending upwardly. However, if the filled container is rotated back into its normal storage and transport orientation with the spout extending horizontally before the cap is attached to the spout, the liquid will shift around inside the container and may be expelled from the spout. As the fluid inside the container may be extremely hot, any liquid expelled unexpectedly from the spout is undesirable, especially if it comes into contact with the person manipulating the container and at the very least will cause a mess and potentially a slip hazard.
Because the beverage container needs to be rested or held with the spout opening extending vertically while being filled, the container and bladder size must be such that when the container is tilted back to its normal resting position, the level of the liquid inside the container is below the spout opening. Otherwise, as described above, liquid will spill out of the spout when the container is rotated back into its transport position, or if the cap has been secured to the spout before shifting the container back into the transport position, liquid will spill out when the cap is first removed by a user. In most cases, the person filling the container will be different from the person opening the container and therefore in most cases it would be difficult to know that the container is overfilled and will expel liquid upon opening. Obviously, such a condition is undesirable, and therefore known beverage containers are designed and configured to make it difficult or impossible to overfill in this manner. For example, the bladder is sized relative to the container such that when the container is in the fill position (i.e., resting on its rear wall), liquid may be filled up to the spout opening, but when the container is tilted back into the transport orientation (i.e., resting on its bottom wall), the bladder will shift positions within the container to rest on the bottom of the container with the level of fluid in the bladder assuming a position below the opening in the spout. With this design constraint, the spout of the bladder must be sufficiently high above the bottom of the container to keep liquid from being expelled when the container is shifted between the filling and transporting orientations. This results in the requirement that the volume of the container is sufficiently larger than that of the bladder. Thus, even when the bladder is filled to capacity, a relatively high percentage (approximately 50%) of the volume of the container is empty. Unoccupied interior space in the beverage container results in material waste and increased manufacturing expenses. In addition, the container and bladder are sized such that the bladder has a large degree of freedom of movement within the container walls and can shift within the container unexpectedly, which can result in unexpected spillage, unpredictable pouring dynamics, and a decrease in the overall stability of the container.
Known beverage containers of the type described above are generally sized to hold numerous cups of liquid, and in some forms, between 96 to 128 ounces of liquid, weighing approximately six to nine pounds. Accordingly, a user will normally pour liquid from the beverage container into smaller vessels, such as a cup or mug, for consumption. Due to factors associated with the shape, size, and spout location of known containers, as well as the weight of a filled container, it can be relatively difficult to control the pouring of a liquid from known beverage containers with a high degree of accuracy, particularly when the container is full. For example, a user can grip the container by the handle and tilt the container until the liquid begins to pour from the spout into a cup placed or held below the spout. The spout generally will be pointing away from the user, or at least transversely with respect to a user's line of sight, in order to reduce the likelihood of spilling any liquid on the user. Because the spout extends horizontally from the vertical front wall, it can be difficult for a user to accurately pour a liquid into a smaller container. This is because as the container is tilted forward, the entire spout, or a substantial part of it, including the opening formed thereby is obscured by the sidewalls or top of the container and thus lies out of the line of sight of the user. If a user cannot see at least a portion of the spout, it is difficult to determine whether liquid is pouring from the spout, as well as the amount of liquid and the velocity with which it is being poured. The result can be spilling liquid or overfilling the smaller vessel.
Another disadvantage of a beverage container with a horizontally extending spout is that they are more prone to spilling and dripping. For example, if a container is transported or moved around without a cap on the spout, any liquid that sloshes around up to the level of the spout can also continue out of the spout. Further, after pouring liquid from the container and setting the container down, any liquid remaining in the spout may continue to flow out of the spout, rather than falling back into the bladder.
Another issue with known beverage containers is known as “turtling,” i.e., the propensity for the spout to be pulled partially or entirely into the container interior. This condition may occur as the bladder begins to fill and the weight of the liquid may not be entirely supported by the walls, such as the rear wall during filling or the base when the container is in the transport orientation. Turtling may also occur when the base wall of the container flexes or sags from the weight of the liquid during transport of the container. Rearward or downward wall movement allows the bladder to move in the same direction, thereby pulling the spout in the direction of movement and possibly causing the spout to be pulled into the container interior or causing the spout to be cocked to one side. The forces on the spout may also put strain on the front wall through which the spout extends. The problem can be compounded if the front wall gets wet and loses physical integrity, potentially causing structural failure of the front wall.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0211754 to Fulcher discloses a beverage container with a sloped front wall portion. The sloped wall portion positions the spout generally at a 45 degree angle from the horizontal rather than perpendicular thereto as with typical beverage containers. However, the design of the container has numerous drawbacks. For example, Fulcher discloses that a separate add-on handle (127) may be connected to the top of the container. The separate handle component must be attached to the container after final hand assembly of the container as shown in FIGS. 6(E)-6(H). As Fulcher describes, the add-on handle is designed to hold the top flaps of the container together. If a user were to omit attaching the handle, the container top would be unsecured and prone to opening, particularly while pouring a liquid therefrom. Further, without the handle to connect the various flaps (120-123) together, the risk of “turtling”, i.e. the spout of the beverage bag being pulled into the interior of the container is particularly acute. Without the handle being provided, there is nothing to prevent the inside top flap (123) from being pulled downwardly into the container interior by the weight of the liquid in the beverage bag. Thus, the only flap keeping the spout from being pulled into the interior of the container is the outside top flap 120, which is also unsecured without the handle in place. When a handle is not provided, the side panels of the shell also become more susceptible to bulging due to the unsecured and movable top flap failing to contain an outward expansion of the side panels upon the beverage bag being filled. As the side panels are pushed outwardly, more of the weight of the liquid is supported by the spout, causing a tendency for the spout to be pulled into the container. Moreover, if the top handle component is not provided to retain the top flaps (120-123) together, bulging of the sides panels is even more likely to occur and because the top wall panels (120, 123) are not secured on one their ends, the bulging of the side panels will no longer provide support to the top panels, allowing them to collapse inwardly.
Due to the flexibility of the plastic add-on handle and because the handle is attached to the container top via slots in the top flaps thereof, the ability to control the pouring of the liquid is also diminished since the handle ends are unsecured and can move, even during pouring. Fulcher discloses providing a back handle (153) in the form of a fold-in flap on the rear panel (150) to allow a user to hold the container at an additional or alternative location while pouring. However, a user may wish to hold the drinking vessel or cup while the vessel is being filled by the beverage container to prevent the vessel from shifting as it receives liquid from the beverage container. Accordingly, a beverage container that requires two-handed pouring can be disadvantageous in such instances. And using only the flexible plastic add-on handle or the back handle alone is disadvantageous when pouring liquid from the Fulcher container such as when the beverage bag is filled to capacity or near capacity and thus is heavier.
Another shortcoming of the Fulcher container is that it is inefficient to assemble. In particular, the upper flaps (120-123) are configured such that the beverage bag must be inserted into the inside nozzle hole (136) in flap (123) by hand after the container shell has been folded and glued to form a collapsed shell as shown in FIG. 6D. This is because the spout must first be inserted into inside nozzle hole (136) and then slid into the relatively narrower portion thereof to lock the spout in place. Then, the spout must be inserted through the outer nozzle hole (135) in the front sloped panel (120), as is evident from the configuration of the flaps shown in FIGS. 6(E)-6(G), in which the inside top flap (123) is folded under the outside top flap (120). Thus, both the handle (127) and the beverage bag must be attached to the container by hand, making the container inefficient to assemble and produce in large quantities.